I’ve done a bit of searching, but I haven’t been able to find the justification being used to shutter the CFPB. One would think that consumer protections are a good thing, and that holding companies responsible for their actions that harm consumers would be a good thing. And one that is universally liked and has returned billions to consumers.
The obvious reason is so that they can screw over consumers, but they have to have at least a cover story that they are using to spin this as something good for the country and constituents, right?
I’m struggling here.
The Republican agenda for over 50 years has been to eliminate federal agencies. Reagan was overwhelmingly elected and he campaigned on closing Carter’s recently created department of education.
If it’s not explicitly in the constitution, they believe it should be operated by the states or by a corporation. It’s not about “why do they want to close it”, it’s “why should this exist” - especially when (they think) a corporation could do it better. Bonus: corporations make money and you can invest in them to make money for yourself.
Generally, the idea is a very small federal government and more sovereignty for each state. It’s easy to misunderstand this when conservatives are also calling for federal restrictions on health and freedoms. Don’t fool yourself to believe there’s consistency in politics.
The world was very different two hundred and fifty years ago. Our lives, commerce, and opinions are no longer impeded by state boundaries. The reason for this country to exist still remains but the context has changed. Anyone holding conservative ideas is, intentionally or not, holding this country back.
Moreover, if you think this administration gives a shit about anyone but themselves and corporations, you my sweet innocent child are truly out of the loop.
Again, going back to Reagan, Americans have been convinced that the government is bad and enriching corporations is good. Trickle down economics is still by and large considered good for workers. You give tax breaks to the billionaires and corporations and, in theory, they can employ more people. Of course we know now that trickle down economics has been a failure and that enriching the poor and middle class is best for the entire economy.
The United States is a failure. It came close but it doesn’t scale. We need a new Constitution and Bill of Rights that more explicitly outlines the responsibility of the federal government and what The People can trust it to do for them. If you want a truly Democratic Republic, we also need to make election day a holiday, fund election campaigns strictly through taxpayer dollars, and implement ranked choice or STAR voting. Footnote - the new constitution would have to explicitly say election campaigns are an exception to any free speech clause because fuck Citizen’s United.